


Coming Home

by Writer_Geekgirl



Series: Castiel and Dean: A Love Story [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Post-Season/Series 12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-31
Updated: 2017-10-31
Packaged: 2019-01-27 03:11:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12572436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_Geekgirl/pseuds/Writer_Geekgirl
Summary: Castiel has been separated from Dean and Sam Winchester, trapped by renegade angels. All he can think of after escaping is to get back to them as fast as possible.





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the same universe as the other stories in the Castiel and Dean: A Love Story series.
> 
> This story was written in response to the prompt word: swift.

Castiel had been away from the Winchesters too long. It had been months since he had seen Dean and Sam. He had been held by a group of renegade angels, but now that he was free he was returning to the bunker as swiftly as he could. The stolen truck felt like it was going to rattle apart from the speed he was going. He didn't have his cellphone and he was too scared to stop to call Dean or Sam, because he wasn't sure how close behind him the angels were.

Castiel had survived the last few months only on the hope that one day he'd be reunited with the Winchesters. The torture hadn't broken him; he had been bent but not broken. He knew he needed to rest; his vessel was weak from blood loss and injuries. He wouldn't though, because all he wanted, all he needed was to see Dean's eyes.

He looked in the rearview mirror nervously. He could see a car on the horizon. He knew that he had crossed into South Dakota. Maybe, if he could just make it to Jody before the truck ran out of gas. He had no money, no credit cards, no way to refill the truck. He could always steal another, he supposed. 

He pushed harder down on the accelerator. The truck lurched forward again. Castiel prayed to his Father, even though he was unlikely to listen. He saw the sign that said Sioux Falls 10 miles ahead. He panicked a moment, wondering if he would endanger Claire by bringing the renegade angels to Jody's doorstep. No, Claire and Jody were both good hunters; they would know how to keep the house warded and probably had for angels. The edges of his vision were fading. His vessel had been pushed to the edge of its physical limits. He heard a siren. He glanced in the rearview mirror, realizing that his speed must have caught the attention of the police. He gauged how far back on the horizon the other vehicle was.

Castiel stared in the rearview mirror again, trying to discern if it was Jody in the vehicle. He couldn't go on, he was shaking uncontrollably. He didn't know if he was going into shock or if his vessel was bleeding out. He pulled the car to a stop. He was unconscious before the car came to a complete stop.

\-----

Castiel woke up slowly. He was first aware of someone saying, "Come on, you have to eat. Cas would want you to take care of yourself." He tried to open his eyes, but couldn't. Later, he heard, "You should get some sleep. He's not going to wake up any faster with you staring at him." Again, he couldn't quite wake up.

Finally, in the peaceful quiet of the early morning, Castiel opened in his eyes. The first thing he saw was Dean slumped asleep in the chair next to the bed he was lying in.

He attempted to speak, "Hello, Dean…" It came out a hoarse whisper, even rougher sounding than usual. He tried to clear his throat, but ended up coughing. Dean's eyes sprung open. Green eyes met blue eyes and time stood still for several moments.

Finally, Dean said, "Cas." He stood up and crossed to the bed, pulling Castiel up into his arms. Castiel grimaced in pain, but held Dean back.

Castiel managed to croak out, "Sam?"

"He's fine. He's just in the other room asleep. We've all been so worried about you. Going dark like that."

Castiel said in a hoarse whisper, "It wasn't my plan."

"Let me get you some water, Cas." Dean gently laid Castiel back onto the bed and went into an adjoining bathroom. He came back a moment later with a glass. He helped Castiel sit up to drink. 

Castiel said in a stronger voice, "Thank you, Dean. That helped."

"Where the hell were you, Cas? What happened?"

"I was on my way to join you and Sam in Kansas, when I got jumped by five angels at a truck stop outside of Kansas City. I managed to take down two of them before they overpowered me. They wanted to negotiate with the angels that are still in Heaven using me as a bargaining chip. Unfortunately for them, Heaven doesn't care about me. Then, their master plan was to torture me for information about how the higher orders work. Yesterday, I found an opportunity to finally escape. So, here I am."

"Yesterday? You've been in Jody's guest room for four days."

"Ah, well, I have a strong vessel. It's just heavily damaged."

"You're telling me. You looked like crap on toast. Scared the hell out of Jody and Claire."

"Are they all right? I had serious misgivings about heading in their direction, but I knew I couldn't make it to you."

"Yeah. Jody got you in the car, called ahead to Claire because she thought your wounds looked angel inflicted and told her to get ready with a banishment sigil. Jody drove you into the garage and shut the garage door. Claire hit the banishing sigil just as soon as the other angels got out of the car. They poofed. Then, Jody called me and Sam, and we drove here as fast as we could."

"I'm sorry to cause everyone so much distress."

"Dude, you were tortured and the crap beat out of you. I'm sorry you had to go through that."

"It gave me time to think of my priorities." Castiel grimaced in pain again.

"Priorities?"

"I give up on Heaven. I give up on angels. I no longer care if all of them kill each other. I think the universe would be a better place without all those dicks, as you call them. I'm just done, Dean. I am through being a pawn. I want to go home with you and Sam and be a hunter, if you don't laugh at me this time. Last time I wanted to be a hunter, you said I sucked."

"The thing I want most in this world is for you to come home with us and live in the bunker on a daily basis. And you don't suck, you just need more practice."

"Will Sam mind?"

Dean gave a short laugh. "No, he'll be thrilled. I've sort of been having problems since you were gone this time. Sam is sick of me."

Castiel shot Dean an appraising look. Dean did look thinner than normal and more ragged. "Have you not been taking care of yourself?"

Dean looked away.

"Was it as bad as when Lucifer killed me?" Castiel asked pointedly.

"Not that bad, but almost, I guess."

Castiel closed his eyes. "Dean, I will always do my best to come back to you. You know that. You need to take care of yourself, so that when I show up with a garrison of angels on my tail you'll be strong enough to kick ass and take names."

"Hey, I can still kick ass."

Castiel frowned at him. 

The door to the bedroom swung wide as Sam ambled in. His face lit up at delight to see Castiel awake. "Cas, man, I was so worried about you. We looked so hard for you. I think we crisscrossed the country four or five times looking for you." Sam reached down to hug Castiel.

Dean interrupted, "Careful, Sammy. He's not 100% yet."

Castiel sat up and hugged Sam anyway, glaring at Dean over Sam's shoulder.

Claire tumbled into the room a moment later. "Cas is awake." She bounced onto the bed on the other side of him. "You scared the crap out of me. I thought for sure I was going to lose you. Don't do that again. You're the only dad I have left, assbutt."

Castiel gave her a fond smile, and ruffled her hair. "I'm sorry you were so concerned, Claire. My absence was not my plan, and it is good to be back among my family again. All of you are my family."

Mary popped in at that moment. "Good, all my boys are awake and mostly functional." She walked over and kissed Castiel on the forehead.

Castiel looked around at all of them. "You're my family. I love you. I love all of you."

Jody called from the doorway, "Breakfast in ten minutes. Bring Cas if he's up to it."

Everyone filtered out of the room except Dean. "You want to go out there?"

Castiel reached out a hand to Dean. "If you don't mind, can we sit here just a minute?"

Dean reached out and held his hand. He didn't care if Sam came in and called in a chick-flick moment or not. "I'm so glad you're back, buddy."

Castiel looked at him intently. "It's my plan to never leave you again."

"Good plan. I spend so much time looking for you, I am thinking of planting a GPS chip under your skin. Then we can just look you up on a map, instead of playing where's Waldo every couple of months to find your sorry ass."

"I missed you, Dean." Castiel said softly.

"Me too, Cas." Dean looked like he wanted to say more, but then looked away. "You want to get up and join the family now?"

"I think I better or this room will fill up again."

"Ok, then. Welcome home, angel. Let me go get you some clothes. Your suit was a goner."

As Dean left the room, he thought he heard an "I love you." When he turned around, Castiel was looking up at the ceiling quietly. Dean shook his head. It must have been wishful thinking.


End file.
